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Technology as a Criterion and Transactional Relationships

One of the most infectious and unquestioned assumptions of the emerging global monoculture is that technological progress and our capability to purchase technological comfort is indicative of our level of humanity. We consider ourselves "civilized" and "humane" because we have access to the highest technology. Not only do we consider those who don't to be primitive, we somehow also consider them to be immoral.

I don't think this is just our human nature. I think all "civilizations" implicitly judge themselves and others by their level of technology and we respond to this socially determined criterion. In my own lifetime, the criteria by which the dominant culture judges itself and others changed drastically. When I was younger, honesty and integrity meant a lot more than they do today. Today we perceive life to be transactional, per instance. We only care for character others for the duration of our "transaction" with them, and only as it pertains to us. We don't want to know or care about anybody. We even get into transactional relationships with our friends.

When you put these two together, judging ourselves by our capability to "purchase" technology, security and comfort, and judging others per transaction, we disconnect ourselves from society and the world as a whole. Possibly, technology, security and comfort are not adverse things in themselves, by when they become the dominant criterion for judgement, we become disengaged. And sadly, this new norm is defining the emerging global monoculture.